Chewing lead on walks help

Hi, I have many issues with Joe on walks as a few of you may know but he's started this new thing and it is sooooo annoying and I could do with some advice!



Right, on walks I've started turning quickly and walking in the opposite direction when/if Joe makes his noise and begins to do his 'thing' when he sees another dog, or when he starts to pull. This seems to be ok ish, and he calms quicker, more or less instantly BUT if he decides that he doesn't want to turn he will kind of pull back, spin his head round and grab hold of the non-retractable part of his lead and begin to chew Obviously this is not on, and I tell him 'no' in a firm voice but then HAVE to physically remove the lead from between his teeth which, believe me, is no easy task! LOL! I tried spraying the part of the lead with the citrus spray I used when he chewed the house and it didn't seem to affect him.



Is there anything you can suggest to help me stop him doing this? Or anything I could put on the lead to make it taste foul and put him off doing it?

Hi,
Lottie my rescue Borzoi cross? was in the habit of suddenly grabbing her lead and then trying to, well ok, succeeding in turning it into a game of tug.
A dreadful situation for me as I have two dogs on lead, and Leo would then start acting up.
I knew the cause of it was because she had decided that it was time to be let off her lead.
I obviously then couldn't have her dictating so she had to stay on lead for even longer.

I ended up taking really delicious treats out with me eg. sausage and when she grabbed the lead, I would get her to sit, lay down, stand etc to get the sausage.
I had been worried that she would see the treat as a result of grabbing the lead but a trainer assured me she would see it only as a result of the command given.
The command and treat broke her train of thought and she would then walk on nicely again.
She has now stopped doing it but if she ever does again, I know what to do-give her an instruction to follow (not just off) and reward

Personally, I channel it into a game. My dog is huge into tug and she uses it as self-rewarding behavior, but also as a redirect for frustration when she can't meet another dog or person. I let her tug. I even bought a leash specifically meant for tugging. I don't see any reason to not allow the game.

The issue I have with turning and walking away when you see another dog approaching is that it doesn't teach the dog any sort of self-control or relaxation around other dogs. If the dog is never around other dogs, how will he/she improve? Dahlia is reactive out of frustration. She wants to meet every single dog she sees. I have managed it, in the past, by getting her further away from the dog or turning and walking away but that's not my ultimate goal.

My goal is to be able to see another dog and remain calm. So I've taught her to look at the other dog, to see it, but to remain calm. We started at quite a distance from other dogs, but now she can pass some 6 feet or so away without going nuts and straining on the lead.

When she remains calm and we're past the other dog, then she gets to play tug with the leash.

Lynne Leo n Lot, thanks for your reply. Joe does this from fear (dogs mainly) and goes into the 'red' zone so a command wouldn't work as he can't/won't hear me


Crysania, once Joe walks in the opposite direction calmly, I turn back to walk back towards the dog, as soon as he starts again we go off in the opposite direction and repeat until calm. Joe has never been socialized and we have been trying for over a year to get him better near dogs, we can't walk him past a dog safely and getting him to sit and watch the dog only works sometimes, depending on the other dog and how it behaves.

An extending lead is a b*ggar to use and easily chomped through, so personally I would invest in a proper lead. You can get chain link leads with a leather handle which a dog wouldn`t chew, but IMO since he`s doing it from stress that would just be masking the symptoms.
If your dog is this stressed, punishing him or telling him off is not the best thing to do as it simply increases his stress. If you remain calm, ignore the unwanted behaviour and remove him from the source of his fear, then reward when calm, you are helping him to cope.
But it will take a lot of time to alter his behaviour. Persistence and patience is the key - and keeping calm.
I think you are trying to move too far, too fast with your dog. Slow down, and give him time to adjust and gain confidence.

LOL, moving too fast? I've been at this for over a year! I can't ignore the behaviour as he's pulling me backwards or into the road. When he's calm again, he does get treats. The retractable lead has the retractable bit but also has a thick leather type material from the handle so he can't chew through it like he could the extendable bit, if that kinda makes sense? LOL. It's that thicker bit he gets hold of

Hi Lianne,
don't know if this will help and i know it's not easy messing about with treats especially when you need all your wits about you and more than 3 hands!
Leo who is Deerhound x (v large) and boisterous had an op and ended up having to be lead walked only, for 6months, he immediately became frustrated and barked and pulled towards any dog whom we came across.
If he knew them he just wanted to get there to play, he would leap and twist and jump and bite my shoulder (he's like a Harrier Jump Jet) If he didn't know them, he sounded as if he wanted to kill. So shocking as he had always been a friendly sociable boy.
So had one to one trainer- she was the one who told me it was frustration - I thought he had suddenly turned aggressive towards other dogs.
Her tactics- sausage, in little pouch, fastened on front of jeans-so just dip hand in and it's there ready.
As soon as you see other dog-you open the bar as she would call it.
Keep walking on feeding sausage piece after piece until you have completely passed dog or it is out of sight, telling him he's a good boy and commenting on other dog saying hello dog even if not near enough to hear - you are saying it for your dog's benefit - showing you are happy to see another dog. But you keep looking at your dog and feeding it.
The point is that hopefully he will associate seeing other dogs with pleasure-treats and a happy you.
Has to be some food he really likes and never gets! except for being around other dogs. And you dont just give one , you give lots. costs a fortune but worth it

Yes, I know, he's that taken up with the sight of another dog so that he doesn't even notice what you are doing! rub the sausage, sunday roast, boiled ham on the end of his nose until he does notice it and eats it and then another piece and another - your dog is then focusing on the food not the dog.
And remember once dog out of vision. Bar shuts
Eventually he will start to look to you for food when he sees another dog.

Thankyou so much for that reply I watched Victoria Stilwell doing that with a boxer the other day and it worked.

What worries me is if he bites my hand in his panic?

But he will only begin to improve if he is learning. If he has been pushed for a year he hasn`t learned, he`s merely had behaviour confirmed. Nothing has changed. If you can`t see tiny improvements, he isn`t progessing, so take a step back and look for smaller steps?

He hasn't been pushed. Far from it. We have seen trainers and behaviourists who have suggested diferent methods, very few of which help. Joe has had a bad 1st year of life and it's going to take a long time to get him improved with any technique